Prize gives couples chance of baby joy

Three couples are celebrating after winning the ultimate Christmas present – the chance to become parents.

St Jude's Women's Hospital, Wolverhampton, offered as a prize a course of IVF treatment, usually worth thousands of pounds.

Lee and Emma Sherwood, of Wednesfield, David and Sharon Palmer, of Stourbridge, and Gina Crossley and Jeffrey Haynes, of Rugeley, have been named winners after being drawn at random from 120 couples who entered the draw for the treatment, which costs more than £4,000.

Emma Sherwood, who has been trying for a baby with husband Lee for three and a half years, said the prize was a great Christmas present.

The 25-year-old healthcare assistant said: "We're so excited but also very shocked." Emma and 27-year-old Lee, a self-employed aerial and satellite dish fitter, have already had two failed cycles of IVF treatment.

For David and Sharon Palmer, of Pedmore, the win could not have come at a better time. David suffers from epilepsy, and although the couple, both 32, had saved for IVF treatment, the cash had to be spent on David's own treatment.

"We are absolutely over the moon," he said.

"I have also been off work, so the money had to help pay for the household bills.

"It's been the best Christmas present possible."

The couple entered the draw after seeing an article about the competition in the Express & Star.

They had already had two courses of treatment, both of which failed.

Jude Adeghe, consultant gynaecologist and medical director at St Jude's in Penn Road, said: "It's wonderful to be able to give a gift like this to these couples.

"We have three very excited couples."

The private hospital, which was named in the top 10 fertility clinics in the country in 2008, ran a similar competition three years ago.